There was a time when BlackBerry was recognized as the king of smartphones in the US, but then, after the release of the first iPhone, it started losing its popularity. In March 2012 RIM actually lost money for the first time, and many of us thought it was the end of the BlackBerry phones. And now the latest survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners says 38 percent of iPhone users have actually switched from Android and BlackBerry phones, which also makes us think people arereally losing their interest towards RIM’s phones.
But is this really the end of BlackBerry? Or maybe they have some ace in the hole that can still save them? Let’s try to find this out…
Keyboards and touchscreens
Several years ago the BlackBerry phones were especially popular for having physical QWERTY keyboards – that was one of the most attractive selling points they had. Now, after the release of the Apple iPhones and so many Android devices, most people are more attracted to touchscreens. Understanding this, RIM has decided to start making touchscreen smartphones running the latest BlackBerry 10 platform (see more below). Of course, they’ll continue manufacturing phones with hardware keyboards, too, since there are still many people who love them. Wise move, RIM!This way they’ll manage to keep those users who prefer the old QWERTYs, and attract new ones from those who buy iPhone or Androids only for those touchscreens.
New software – BB 10
RIM introduced the new BlackBerry 10 OS at the latest BlackBerry World conference that took place in Florida in the beginning of May. RIM hopes the platform will help them rise again, and perhaps they’re right – the OS looks pretty good!
Perhaps the most important thing in BB 10 is its user-friendly interface. It comes with a cool touchscreen keyboard that supports gesture-based typing and easily adjusts to the typing style of the user. Navigating though the active apps has also become much easier and faster in the new interface, which is also quite an attractive feature. They say some camera improvements are coming, too. If BB 10 really turns out to be such a nice platform, it’ll make good competition to Android and iOS making sure the BlackBerry phones get some part of the lost market back.
There are also rumors that RIM is going to put the new BB 10 into vehicles, too – since BB 10 is a QNX-based platform, this is more than possible. If so, this will help RIM make its way to a completely new market attracting new users, drivers.
Prices – the lower the better
There are people who buy this or that device only because they think it’s prestigious;these people are usually ready to pay any sum for the Apple iPhones. All the others prefer cheap smartphones with good features, that’s why Androids are so popular – they offer nice hardware for rather affordable prices.
If a high-end BlackBerry costs the same as, for instance, the famous Samsung Galaxy S3, many users will prefer the latter. But if a new BlackBerry phone comes with the same (or almost the same) features as the Galaxy S3 and costs less, it’ll no doubt attract everyone’sattention.
Conclusion
So what do we have here? Yeah, the last 5 years were rather difficult for RIM andtheir BlackBerry phones, but it doesn’t mean it’s the end. Some wise decisions have been made by RIM, and if they manage to implement all of them (i.e. make both touchscreen and QWERTY phones for affordable prices and turn BB 10 into a very cool platform), they’ll no doubt bring back the popularity they once had, and their future will be even brighter than their past.
Besides, no matter what everyone says, BlackBerry is still #4 among the Top 10 Canadian Brands for 2012, and I think this means something.